Harvard President Drew FAUST announced the selection of the China Project to receive the first anchor grant of the newly established Harvard Global Institute. This major award, at $1.25 M annually for 3 years with an option for renewal, will support collaborative research across disciplines and between Harvard and Chinese institutions on climate-related challenges. Led by Profs. Michael B. McELROY and Dale W. JORGENSON and managed by Project executive director Chris P. NIELSEN, the new program, China 2030/2050, includes a range of studies spanning atmospheric and climate science, energy science, economics, environmental health, history, law, and policy. It involves 17 faculty members from 5 Harvard schools and a similar number of collaborating professors in China.
Coordinating with the Harvard Center Shanghai, the HGI's base in China, the new program will include two major field projects: expansion of an atmospheric measurement effort initiated with Tsinghua University in 2004, and a household survey of transportation behavior, air quality, and environmental health valuation in the city of Chengdu that will apply state-of-the-art geospatial sampling methods developed by Peking University political scientists. It will also include a number of research symposia held in China and at Harvard, a series of high-profile public lectures, and a summer short course for a select cohort of Harvard and Chinese student participants.